Pirate Party Crashes Spy Drone in Front of German Chancellor Angela Merkel

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German Chancellor gets a taste of how it feels to be spied on

Germany's local Pirate Party gave a German Chancellor Angela Merkel a scare and then a chuckle on Tuesday during Chancellor Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party campaign rally in the city of Dresden.  (Germany votes in a national election on Sept. 22.)

To protest the EU's use of surveillance drones -- including a recently shuttered local program that cost German taxpayers 500M € ($667.8M USD) -- a Pirate operator flew a small unmanned drone over the crowd up to the podium where the Chancellor was speaking.  

The drone appeared to take photos and video of the chancellor, who cracked a smile at the unusual sight.  Her defense minister to her left (in the right of the image) looked not so amused.  The super serious defense minister's face was locked in a severe frown at the sight.

Eventually police sighted the operator, and took him into custody, leading the drone to crash harmlessly.  The 23-year-old pilot was briefly detained, but was released.  No charges have been filed yet.

Chancellor MerkelChancellor Merkel is surprised by a Pirate Party drone guest.

Markus Barenhoff, vice chairman of the German Pirate Party, comments, "The objective of the mission was to convey to the Chancellor and Minister of Defence Thomas de Maizière what it’s like to be suddenly observed from a drone."

The reformist German Pirate party has little in the way of campaign cash, but its guerilla campaign tactics managed to score 2.0 percent of the vote in recent national elections -- the most of any chapter of the Pirate Party.  Many Pirate Party politicians have been elected to local offices in Germany, although Germany has put forth no Pirate Party reps (yet) as the Swedish chapter has.

Europeans are currently riled by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) spying scandal.  German's in particular, were disturbed to learn that the NSA was targeting them at a higher rate akin to the rate at which it typically targets hostile/volatile regions.  The motivation behind the NSA's keen interest in Germany remains unclear.